The incredible moment this man sees colour for the very first time

Chances are, you probably don't think much about colour-blindness unless you're involved with the condition.

Colour blindness affects around 2.7 million in the UK alone.

The condition usually prevents people from seeing red, green or blue light.

There are also rare cases of people being unable to see any colour at all.

One of those people is 66-year-old bodybuilder William Reed.

For his birthday his family decided that they wanted him to see the world the way they could.

Together they brought a special pair of Enchroma glasses, which have the ability to restore colour vision for the colourblind.

When they give Bill the gift the tension lingers as he takes his time to unwrap it and is initially clueless to what the specs are.

Then he puts them on and we'll just let you watch watch transpires.

You'd better have a couple of tissues to hand.

Amazed by the colours around, William begins to weep with happiness, clap his hands with sheer excitement and is virtually speechless.

The moving video was uploaded to YouTube on 12 September and has already been watched over 700,000 times.

For us the best part of the video is when one of his relatives likens his experience to the moment The Wizard of Oz goes from black and white to colour.

You're not in Kansas anymore William. Enjoy.

HT YouTube, Mashable, Colour Blind Awareness

More: This is what a world map looks like if you're colourblind